Hard Light Productions Forums

Hey HLP, I thought it'd be appropriate to share my kicking off a series of undetermined length on Freespace on the board. I'm planning on doing quite a few videos on the retail campaigns and then switching over to the community stuff (probably in some kind of chronological order with the exception of ST:R being a segue into talking about 2). Let me know what you guys think of this as an introduction and any suggestions you have as far as showcasing the community stuff or if I should just use General Battuta's guide as a blueprint for going through the campaigns on here.

Awesome. An insightful discussion of a worthy game series. Thanks a bunch!

I like the way you described the sense of powerlessness, horror, and even wonder that the retail campaigns gave to the player. You put into words something that I've sensed for a long time but couldn't put into words - it was the atmosphere that drew me in with Freespace 1, and the reason why that game is my favorite of the two. I thought it pulled off that isolation, wonder, horror... maybe just a little better than the second. Both games did it real well though.

Not to mention you're an excellent commentator. You take your time but your voice isn't dull, and I can tell that you mean what you say. Are you taking lessons or something? :P

Thank you for the kind words. I'm also a playwright and I've done a fair amount of cold readings of both complete and in progress works, so that's probably helping me out.

From a narrative standpoint, I find the two games surprisingly different for how similar their style and pacing is. The Shivans are (re)introduced at mission 4 or 5 depending on the game and there's some kind of rebellion/splinter group keeping the T-V war wounds fresh. Freespace 1 has a special place in my heart because of how it introduces the Shivans (part of the next video) and how it makes the wait for the Avenger and shields a brutal affair on higher difficulties. (I spent hours replaying the Hammer and the Anvil for that medal, and about 35% of the time it was because I got too trigger happy with the HOL right at the end).

FS2's version of Out of the Dark, Into the Night (The Great Hunt) is probably the best example of the difference in the attitude of the GTVA vs. the GTA and PVE and something they'll dearly pay for as FS2 progresses.

Most of the stuff on HLP deserves more attention for how much effort and love is put in, and maybe at some point I'll get off my ass and relearn FRED so I can finally make the mini-campaign I've been sitting on for 2 years.

One tip: talk a little bit slower. Make some pauses between individual parts of the video. While native english speakers probably won't have problems with understanding this, players from non-english countries may find this problematic.

Firesteel, the single most important thing I would suggest is to work on your cadence. Your enunciation is good, volume is good, and speed is good (albeit slightly faster than probably necessary). But your cadence is very regular, which makes the narration sound somewhat like the Architect's speech (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKpFFD7aX3c) in the unofficial Matrix sequel. Try varying it a bit, and taking some pauses.

As far as my upload schedule (which barely exists still) I'm planning on doing a Freespace video every other upload to break it up both for the channel's sake and so I don't go too far down the rabbit hole and never come back :D. The next upload will be about Prey 2017 and why I'm having such a hard time getting into it, so don't worry, after that I'll be looking at how FS1 uses everything in its opening moments and missions to build an entire world with as little text as possible!

That is indeed a modest proposal. As I see it, FS1 created a foundation equivalent of rooting a house near the mantle and FS2 then went on to build a gorgeous house with a ridiculous amount of expandability.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I find the details surrounding operation thresher and all it implies interesting.

That IS my opinion but I am a grouch and also not the one putting a ton of effort into a cool video series, so please carry on

also while we're talking about freespace analysis, i remember you saying once that freespace 2 has incredible ludonarrative harmony 'even down to the interface art' — could you elaborate on that? do you mean that it's dark, dreary and clinical, with little concession to wing commander-style cosy skeuomorphism?

The main menus in FS change depending on where you are in the campaign and act as a hub for both the software itself and the experienceb (they are flight decks). On top of that the story has no presumption of agency and has more interest in making you feel small than powerful (even in FS1, you destroy the Eva but it costs the Galatea). FS2 goes all in on this principle with the Sathanas. (I'm on my phone so I'm not typing any essays here).

The HUD is a utilitarian as hell design and is reminiscent of a lot of modern military systems with a few more flourishes here and there.

A lot of the ships in FS aren't designed with aerodynamics in mind (ursa or herc anyone?) But are designed around target profiles or maximizing fields of fire (FS2 leviathan's aa beams, the pegasus's razor thin profile, or the deimos's turret coverage while looking like a rounded brick).

I was watching something else when I had this sudden urge to dive back into the FS universe. Was frustrated from how out of date all my installers are, no idea if wxLauncher was up to date with bested graphics, joystick covered in ash.

This video was a counterweight to my impulse. Go back. Enjoy the original tale. Remember why, after ~15 years ago, this game spoke out to me in a big box store. Remember in the impetuous of youth you played as god almighty... on easy.

Flash. You tire of easy settings. The enemy is smart too. I fumble between settings justifying it with AI accuracy. Still remember. I don't mind being a pawn if the game makes sense.

Just so this is somewhere a little more central, my current plans for video releases is Freespace every other video. The next upload will be about immersive sims (like Prey 2017 and Bioshock) then looking at the first part of Freespace 1, then something talking about VA-11 Hall-A, then more Freespace, and so on.

I'm working on it (see my forum text). I've been busy working on this Prey video that's ballooned because of my need for footage and slowly warming up to the game 11 hours in. The next Freespace video will hopefully not take me a month but I'm moving next week so we'll see. The topic is something I've already had drafts of so that process should be faster.